With the Strength of an Ape
by The Ghoul's Bee
Summary: October Tenth. For some, it is a day of mourning. For others, it is a day of celebration. Though the Yellow Flash died, not all was lost. The world believes Hiruzen Sarutobi slayed the beast with a large monkey summon. The truth however, is quite a bit different. Saiyan!Naruto. Alive!Kushina. Pairings Not Decided.


October Tenth.

It is a day burned deeply into the hearts and minds of Konoha's Shinobi, for one reason, and one reason alone.

The Kyuubi.

A beast thought composed only of hate and hellfire, its sudden appearance had spurred the shinobi to action, but to no avail. Men and women died on the front lines, attempting to fend off the vicious beast.

Alas, it was not until the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, arrived did the tide begin to turn. Alongside his beautiful but hot-blooded wife Kushina, the pair singlehandedly fought the beast back to the edge of the village, in hopes of providing their shinobi time enough to evacuate.

It was a hard battle.

Forests and mountains laid in ruins as step by step the great Biju was pushed back, but still, it showed no sign of tiredness, nor mercy. However, the Fourth and Kushina had no such luxury. Their mortal bodies only had so much power to give, and with every move they made, every jutsu they cast, their stamina drained rapidly.

Kushina would fall first, the Fourth knew. Unbeknownst to Konoha's populace, Kushina had once carried the beast inside her belly, but the sudden arrival of _that_ man had changed all that.

The seal was unbreakable, they had been told. Weakening only during a time of childbirth, of which Kushina was incapable of. Alas, fate had a funny way of working things out, and on the eve of their decision to adopt, the masked man had struck.

Spiriting Kushina away with a mighty Genjutsu cast with his terrible red eyes, the man had fled with her to the center of the village, only to extract the beast immediately upon Minato's interference.

The man had fled, then, knowing that despite the damage the beast would cause, he was no match for the famed Yellow Flash.

And so… Minato, Kushina, and Konoha, were left to deal with the raging beast, never knowing when the man might return.

"Minato! Focus!" Kushina's voice brought the man to his senses, and he deftly avoided a swipe from the foul beast's claws. "I won't be able to keep him chained much longer! If you're going to seal him again…"

"I need to do it now, I know." Minato said, glaring at the towering beast.

The problem, however, was that Minato had no such seal to contain the _complete_ Biju. He had been working on one, certainly, but he had gotten distracted with Kushina, having been trying for so long…

Still, there was something he'd developed. A way to seal _parts_ of things away. If he was to save his wife however, he'd need to do it quickly.

So, as the Kyuubi snarled and raged, tied down by Kushina's beloved Chakra Chains, the blonde acted.

Charging forward, he tossed a three-pronged kunai just beyond the Kyuubi's left ear, and disappeared.

His prized technique. The Hiraishin, capable of teleporting him from one place to another, in a _yellow flash_.

Reappearing above the Kyuubi, Minato raised his right hand, a swirling blue sphere of chakra appearing in its palm. He brought the hand downward, and plowed the orb down upon the Kyuubi's back.

"RASENGAN!" he called out, and the beast's eyes blanked out for the briefest of moments.

"Now, Minato!" Kushina cried, and Minato complied.

Reappearing beside Kushina, he reached for the open seal still christened on her body and a stream of chakra sped from it toward the whining orange beast.

"Sealing Technique: Dead Demon Consuming Seal!" Minato roared, and a blinding light engulfed the world.

The Kyuubi roared, feeling a portion of its power inevitably drained way through the power of the Shinigami itself, wrapped and bound back inside its cursed prison deep within Kushina's form.

The woman herself however, widened her eyes. She knew that seal, knew what it cost the user, and having heard Minato just utter those forbidden words-

"Minato-!"

"Heh…" the blonde muttered, feeling his chakra rapidly begin to fade. "Looks like this is it, Kushina."

His body slumped, and the silhouette of the Shinigami appeared behind him, ready to devour its latest meal.

Kushina fell down, catching the slumping Minato in her arms as she glanced at his still form.

"Minato? Minato…?"

The blonde coughed.

"Sorry… Kushina. It was… the only technique I could think of, to save you." He coughed again, blood trailing down his lips as his wife watched on in muted horror. "You need… to live, Kushina. Kyuubi… I couldn't get all of it."

Indeed, Kushina could already hear its enraged snarls as it began to recover from the sealing attempt. Its body was smaller, though, and while still formidable, she knew that Konoha would stand a chance.

"Why…? Why would you do this? We could have found another way? We could have used what time we had left!"

"No time left." Minato whispered. "My life. For the Village. My life. For you."

"This… it's my fault, isn't it?" Kushina asked, eyes alit with tears. "I… I should have just stayed away."

Minato cut her off, using what little energy he had left to press his hands atop hers.

"Kushina. It's…" he was about to say not, but his cough muted him mid speech. "-r fault."

The blonde died then, and as far as Kushina believed, the last words he said were.

"_Kushina. It's – your fault."_

A hideous scream beckoned from her lips, and the Kyuubi stood, ready to fight once more.

Kushina did not move. She did not speak. It was her fault Minato died, and so, as recompense, she too, would let the beast kill her.

The red-eyed fox glared at her, preparing to strike.

Its target would not be reached.

As soon as it dropped its paw, a large staff smashed into its hand, knocking it aside.

"Kushina!" Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Honorable Third Hokage, shouted. "Minato! Is he-?"

"He's dead." Kushina said, voice empty and alone. "Sealed part of the beast."

"I see." The man said firmly, turning his cold gaze back toward the beast. "Biwako too… very well! I shall take on this beast! Kushina, return to the Village! It is not safe!"

"But – Minato!"

"He knew what he was getting into," the man promised with a sad smile. "It is not your fault he is dead, Kushina. Now, show Konoha that even if the Yellow Flash has fallen, his will still burns, within the Red-Hot Habanero!"

The woman nodded, and feeling her Life Force return due to her Jinchuriki status being renewed, she stood, preparing to flee.

"**Kushina Uzumaki…"** the Kyuubi's dark voice growled in discontent. **"Return what you and that man have stolen!"**

"Heh…" the woman muttered, smiling despite herself. "You'll have to come and get it… Dattebane!"

The Kyuubi lunged its paw, and Kushina leapt away, deeper into the forest. Making to follow, the Kyuubi snarled, only to once again find itself being assailed by a large, black pole. It turned its head angrily, turning to glare at the shinobi before him.

"Your opponent is me, Kyuubi!" Hiruzen declared, whipping his size-changing pole around with the skill of an elite. "You shall not pass!"

"**We shall see, old man!"** the beast roared, and a battle began anew.

Elsewhere, the masked man watched the scene stoically, pleased at the Fourth Hokage's demise, yet displeased with other things.

"The beast has been sealed… or at least a part of it. Will the statue still work with only a piece…?" he wondered aloud, glaring at the shrunken Kyuubi angrily.

"Does it really matter?" his all-black ally asked from the shadows. "We shall have other opportunities. We were not to strike tonight anyway, were we not?"

"True." The masked man agreed, turning his gaze toward the moon. "Our true goal, is _that_ object. The one on the tablet, said to arrive this day."

"_And so a being of great power shall descend to the world… and though its tails are few, its might shall defeat even the greatest of foes…"_ his ally quoted perfectly, eliciting a nod from the masked man.

"Yes. The tablet spoke clearly. October Tenth, on the rise of the full moon. So why is it not here? Why has it not yet appeared?"

As if on cue, a small, shining light appeared in the sky, marking its descent to the village of Konoha.

"It seems you spoke too soon, "Madara"." The all-black figure chuckled, watching the scene itself.

The masked man grunted, watching the descent with his glowing red eyes. "No. This angle… it's trajectory. It will collide with Kyuubi!"

"Oh? Then it seems this trip too… was in vain." The figure said.

"Madara" scowled, turning to glare at the figure, but he was gone. "Then I shall return for it later." He muttered quietly, and he too, vanished into the abyss.

The Kyuubi thought it knew a lot of things.

It knew the name of the Sage of Six Paths.

It knew the hatred humans held in their hearts.

It knew the exact time it took for a human woman to give birth – don't ask.

What it did not know, however, was why, despite all the swings, bites, and roars it made, the Third Hokage _just. Would. Not. Die!_

"**ENOUGH!"** Kyuubi snarled, opening its jaws wide and turning its head to the sky. **"I'll finish you with this!"**

A small sphere of heat and hate began to swirl just above the creature's mouth, the tiny orb compact, but powerful enough to wipe out the entire village.

Hiruzen widened his eye in disbelief.

If the beast was allowed to do whatever it planned to… there would be nothing left.

And there was nothing he could do about it.

Luckily, it seemed he wouldn't have to.

No sooner did the sphere begin to glow did it suddenly disappear, and something small, shiny, and metallic blew past it into the Kyuubi's mouth.

The fox's eyes widened in disbelief, and it howled – or, attempted to.

The creature made several tugging gestures at its throat, and Hiruzen resisted the urge to chuckle.

The Nine-Tailed Fox, the most powerful of the Biju… it was… it was _choking_!

With a gargled scream the Kyuubi hacked and groaned, attempting to dislodge the item that had positioned itself perfectly in its neck. If it had been its usual size such an object would be no problem to swallow, but that accursed Fourth had stolen half its chakra, and with it, its size.

What an embarrassing death.

Kyuubi had died before, of course. Numerous times, in fact. But all of them had been honorable, through battle! What would the other Biju think of it if they learned he'd been defeated by… by somethinghe just couldn't _swallow_?!

Again, the Kyuubi turned its head upward, attempting to force the object out through force.

It would be its last mistake, as it would come to discover.

For above him, at that very moment, was the Full Moon.

A Full Moon, that, unbeknownst to him and the world, contained Blutz Waves.

Blutz Waves… that something within the small object was looking at.

"_Baboo…"_ something whispered from within the metallic sphere, and the metal cracked.

"_Babooooo…!"_

Kyuubi coughed once more, and attempted to swallow.

The object fell through, finally, though the Kyuubi wondered why it felt far more filling than it thought.

It would not be conscious long enough to realize why.

For no sooner did the beast turn its gaze back toward Hiruzen, did the hairy arm of a Great Ape burst through the Kyuubi's mouth, killing it instantly.

Without a sound, the Kyuubi crashed to the floor, defeated, and something new _roared._

Luckily, it took all night for the beast to finally free itself from the Kyuubi's rapidly decomposing corpse. The beast had only just managed to free itself and muster one, _powerful_ roar, before it fell back to the earth atop the defeated fox, unconscious.

Hiruzen would return to the scene later to find only a small child, with a small chimp-like tail protruding from his tailbone. He'd give him to Kushina, he thought. From what he recalled, she and Minato had been looking to adopt, and after the Flash's death, he knew she would need something to distract her.

Konoha would never know just how close they'd come to worrying about a new situation that day, and with no fox to worry about, they cheered and mourned the dead.

From that day forth, the Third Hokage, though he alone knew he did not deserve it, had his own holiday.

* * *

><p>Iruka coughed.<p>

"And that's how the Third Hokage used his summon to kill the Nine-Tailed Fox." He said, recalling the tale to his soon-to-be graduating students.

"That's disgusting!" Ino Yamanaka, heiress to the Yamanaka Clan said. "Why would the Third summon something _inside_ the Nine-Tailed Fox?!"

"It was the only way to defeat it! And he did it in an awesome way too!" Kiba barked.

Iruka smiled at his rowdy students. Finally, after years of putting up with them, he'd finally be free to rest for the summer-

"Ano… Sasuke-kun? What do you think?" Sakura Haruno, another of Iruka's students, asked the Uchiha Prodigy.

"What do I think…?" the boy asked, rubbing his chin in thought. "I think… that the Third is a wise man. If he felt it best to summon something from within… then there must have been a reason. Is that a good enough answer for you, Haruno-san?"

"Y-Yes!" Sakura blushed furiously. _"Cha! We totes got Sasuke-kun to talk to us! Now if we can just keep him away from Ino-pig until Team Placements…"_

Sasuke sighed, turning his gaze from the pink-haired kunoichi. Why so many women wanted him he didn't know. Perhaps he'd ask his mother Mikoto about it later…

And where was that idiot Naruto? He was the one who loved the tale of the Third's victory the most, right?! Why was he not there? WHY?!

Far above Konoha, a tailed boy sneezed.

"Hehehe… someone must be talking about my next greatest prank!" the boy grinned, and he slashed the last drop of paint onto the Hokage Monument.

Whether he got caught by ANBU or not however, he knew one thing was certain…

Kushina would be pissed.

**Prologue END**


End file.
